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Washington, May 9 — At a US-India forum, experts urged closer US-India cooperation on artificial intelligence and defence, saying warfare has shifted to data and algorithms. Vivek Lall, chief executive of General Atomics Global Cooperation, and Lt Gen (Retd) Raj Shukla made the principal remarks in a session moderated by Sameer Lalwani of the Special Competitive Studies Project. Shukla said "AI is not futuristic" and warned that "algorithmic warfare is arrived," calling on militaries to adopt faster software-style development cycles and transform defence departments to operate like software companies. Lall said no single country has all the best ideas and that the United States and India can achieve more by cooperating across industry, academia and vocational institutes to tap global talent. He and Shukla identified areas for joint work including data sharing, training and control of the electromagnetic spectrum. Shukla also highlighted cost asymmetries in modern conflict and urged India to break civil-military and sectoral silos. Both described the partnership as being at an inflection point as AI and emerging technologies become central to the bilateral defence relationship built up over two decades.

Prepared by Lauren Mitchell and reviewed by editorial team.